RLab Optical Laboratory Case Study
How an Independent Optical Lab Broke Away from Industry Sameness — and Generated $3.1M in the Process
Brand & Strategy Investment
Months
Assets Created
Revenue Growth
RLab Optical Laboratory
The Challenge:
RLab Optical Laboratory is an independently owned optical lab based in Rochester, NY — a business with real capabilities and genuine potential. But when new operational leadership came on board, they inherited more than an opportunity. They inherited a reputation problem.
With a checkered past that had eroded trust among eye care professionals in the market, RLab needed more than better operations. New systems, updated processes, and strategic hires were already underway — but the brand still told the old story. To signal that something had genuinely changed, they needed a brand evolution significant enough to make ECPs take a second look at a lab they may have already written off.
They needed the brand to do what the new team was already doing every day: prove that this was a different RLab.
Research & Insight:
The optical lab industry is a sea of sameness. Sterile, product-focused messaging. Interchangeable claims. An almost complete absence of genuine differentiation.
Our discovery process revealed that RLab’s biggest opportunity wasn’t to compete on those same terms — it was to abandon them entirely.
Through a thorough SWOT and competitive analysis, a clear picture emerged: under new leadership, RLab had built meaningful, defensible advantages that competitors couldn’t match. A new high-tech facility. Specialty capabilities. An integrated U.S.-based operation. And a service-first approach that ECPs consistently cited as a deciding factor in their lab relationships.
The insight that shaped everything: ECPs don’t just want a lab. They want a partner who helps them run a better practice. RLab was already delivering that under new management. The brand just needed to catch up.
Services Delivered
Brand Strategy
Creative Services
- Identity/Logo Design
- Website Design
- Print Design
- Social Media
Business Strategy
Project Results
Goal: Reposition RLab as the modern, service-first alternative in a consolidating optical lab market — and give their sales and marketing efforts a strategic foundation to build from.
Result: In the first year following the rebrand, RLab grew revenue by $3.1MM. The brand strategy gave the business a clearer identity, stronger messaging, and better sales tools — which, combined with operational improvements, helped RLab break away from the pack and convert opportunities it previously couldn’t.
Brand Strategy
A Clearer Position in a Crowded Market
Reframing the Brand Story
Our role was to reposition RLab as more than a lens manufacturer. To establish it as a modern, service-first partner for eye care professionals who wanted more than a transactional lab relationship.
Most optical labs lead with products. We positioned RLab around outcomes — specifically, the measurable value it creates for the ECPs it serves. That shift in perspective changed everything: the messaging, the visual identity, the website, and the sales tools all became expressions of a single, clear idea.
RLab doesn’t just produce lenses. It helps eye care professionals run better practices.
Brandscape
The BrandScape process is where visual strategy begins — exploring color, typography, photography direction, and graphic style to define a clear visual identity.
For RLab, the goal was to create an identity that reflected where the lab was headed, not where it had been. Their previous brand lacked the presence to communicate the sophistication of their facility or the depth of their capabilities. It looked like every other optical lab — because it was designed to.
The new identity is built to communicate advanced capability and genuine partnership at a glance. Modern without being cold. Confident without being corporate. An identity that finally matches the lab behind it.
BrandScript
Before any creative work begins, the BrandScript establishes the strategic messaging foundation — a unified voice and framework that guides everything from website copy and sales materials to advertising and future marketing efforts.
For RLab, the BrandScript identified the challenges ECPs face, positioned RLab as the partner that helps solve them, and clearly articulated the value RLab brings beyond simply producing lenses. Every piece of content that followed — every headline, every sales conversation, every page of the website — was built on this foundation.
Identity Development
How RLab Shows up in the World
Logo Design
Part of the brand strategy was to position RLab as a more modern, progressive brand — one that could stand apart from the sea of interchangeable optical lab identities while establishing a clear distinction from its parent company, Rochester Optical.
The new mark delivers exactly that. It carries a more contemporary, confident presence while nodding to the previous design — positioning the updated brand as a meaningful evolution, and a clear signal of where RLab is headed.
Brand Applications
Designed to Go Further — A strong identity needs to work wherever the brand shows up. We developed apparel and vehicle graphics that show how RLab’s new visual system translates beyond traditional marketing materials and into the real world.
Bold color, geometric forms, and the distinctive RLab mark create a visual language that remains recognizable at any scale — from a team polo to a fully wrapped delivery vehicle. The result is a brand presence that feels cohesive, confident, and unmistakably RLab wherever it goes.
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Website Design & Messaging
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Showcase the Brand
The previous RLab website was outdated, generic, and failed to reflect the sophistication of the lab itself. With limited content and weak messaging, it did little to communicate RLab’s capabilities, differentiate the brand, or build confidence with prospective customers.
The redesign changed that. The new site organizes RLab’s story around the needs of its customers — making it easy to explore services, understand capabilities, and see RLab as a strategic partner rather than just another optical lab.
A modern visual system, clearer messaging, and more intuitive navigation work together to create a digital experience that feels as advanced and professional as the lab itself.
Designed to Connect
The new RLab website was designed and built in Shopify — not as an e-commerce site, but as a flexible, content-driven foundation with built-in partner access to pricing information for a modern brand experience. The platform gives RLab room to grow without rebuilding from scratch every time their business evolves.
Photography
To bring the new brand to life, we coordinated an on-site photography shoot that captured the precision of their process and the people behind it.
The photos give the brand an authentic visual library that showcases the real people and capabilities behind RLab—creating a more human brand experience across the website.
Previous Design
The previous RLab website failed to reflect the sophistication of the lab behind it.
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Print Material
Stationery
A Brand You Can Feel — The new RLab identity was carried through a complete stationery system, with the business cards serving as the standout piece. A striking, minimal design pairs a super-matte suede coating with spot varnish to highlight the new ‘R’ symbol, creating a subtle contrast in texture and sheen that reveals itself as the card is handled. The result is a simple but memorable piece that doesn’t just communicate the new RLab brand — it gives people a reason to experience it.
Product Brochures
Sales Tools That Work as Hard as the Team
RLab’s sales team needed tangible tools that could hold their own in face-to-face conversations with eye care professionals. We designed a lively series of product brochures for RLab’s Enduro, Promic Photochromic, and RO Digital Lens solutions — materials that make complex products easier to understand, reinforce the new brand identity, and give prospects something memorable to reference long after the sales conversation ends.
Business Strategy & Fractional CMO Support
More Than a Rebrand — A Strategic Partnership
The RLab engagement went well beyond brand and creative work. Over 18 months of weekly strategic sessions, we worked alongside new operational leadership to uncover what truly differentiated RLab in the eyes of the ECPs they served — not what the lab assumed was valuable, but what customers actually valued most.
That process included direct ECP surveys to validate positioning assumptions, competitive analysis of key market players, and the development of an ECP Marketing Model designed to make RLab stickier with its customer base. The model was built around a simple insight: even the best service relationships can be disrupted by a single bad experience. A structured marketing program — keeping RLab visible, valuable, and connected between transactions — would protect those relationships over time.
The ECP Marketing Model included a website template with custom copy, SEO strategy, paid advertising, social media strategy, in-store marketing, and email marketing — giving RLab’s partner practices a turnkey marketing system built around the RLab brand.
